UCT Prague and DEX Innovation Centre appointed as EIT Food Country Representatives in Czechia

The University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, in cooperation with DEX Innovation Centre, has been selected as the national representative of the EIT Food initiative in Czechia for the period 2026–2028. Together, they will operate under the name EIT Food Country Representative Czechia as part of the EIT Community Hub Czechia.

This appointment opens up new opportunities for collaboration in the agri-food sector in Czechia and will help strengthen connections between Czech research organisations, startups, companies and students and the European innovation ecosystem.

EIT Food, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), connects education, research and business with the aim of building a sustainable, healthy and resilient food system in Europe. Through its programmes, it supports innovation, startup development and the education of a new generation of professionals.

What the new representation brings

The role of EIT Food Country Representative Czechia includes in particular:

• connecting the Czech agri-food sector with the EIT Food ecosystem across Europe,
• supporting innovative startups and their participation in international programmes, 
• promoting educational and innovation opportunities offered by EIT Food among students, researchers and professionals,
• strengthening collaboration between academia, industry and public institutions,
• organising activities focused on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the food sector.

The activities will also include the development of additional initiatives in Czechia aimed at supporting startups and building innovation capacity, including participation in programmes such as Challenge Lab – a format in which teams address real-world challenges and, with the support of mentors, develop innovative solutions with further application potential.

Building on previous activities

The role of EIT Food Country Representative Czechia builds on the activities of the EIT Food Hub, which operated at the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology of UCT Prague between 2018 and 2025.

During this period, hundreds of Czech students, researchers, startups and innovators were successfully involved in international EIT Food programmes focused on education, innovation and entrepreneurship. Activities covered key areas such as sustainable agriculture, personalised nutrition, alternative proteins, sustainable aquaculture, digital traceability and circular food systems.

Among the key achievements are the successes of Czech startups in international EIT Food programmes. One of the early examples is the startup Thermosolar Hive™, which won the national round of the EIT Food Innovation Prize, achieved 3rd place in the European final and was subsequently supported through the Sales Booster programme. This success was followed by the startup Ullmanna, which first tested its AI technology for precision agriculture in the Test Farms programme and was later selected for the EIT Food Accelerator Network (EIT FAN). Other Czech startups have also joined EIT FAN, including MarbleMat, developing encapsulation technology for oil-based components, and Mewery, focused on cultivated meat based on microalgae as a sustainable alternative to animal production.

Equally important are programmes supporting women in the agri-food sector, in particular EWA – Empowering Women in Agrifood, organised in Czechia by cats2cats, which offers mentoring and business coaching for selected female entrepreneurs. Awarded projects include, for example, Farma Hana Součková and Živý uhlík.

The Challenge Lab programme has delivered several thematic editions connecting industry, research and students in addressing real-world challenges related to the food system. Companies such as Nestlé, UGO, Myco and Rebelbean have been involved. The winner of Challenge Lab 2024 was the project GreenCycleCosmetics, developed by students from UCT Prague.

About EIT Food

EIT Food is growing Europe’s food innovation ecosystem to build a healthy, sustainable and resilient food system. We empower innovators and entrepreneurs, invest in ideas and talent, and we create space for science, research, industry, and policymakers to accelerate systemic change across the food sector. Supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, EIT Food has been at the forefront of food system innovation in Europe since 2016.

Find out more at www.eitfood.eu or follow us via social media:

X (Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

About EIT Food Country Representatives

EIT Food Country Representatives are members of the EIT Coomunity Hubs in their respective countries. They are independent organisations appointed to connect national agrifood ecosystems in Southern and Eastern Europe with EIT Food’s ecosystem, activities, and opportunities. A central part of their role is to build strong pipelines of agrifood startups for EIT Food’s entrepreneurship programmes by scouting promising ventures, engaging incubators and accelerators, and providing handson support during application processes.

They also attract learners to EIT Food’s education initiatives, including the EIT Food Master in Food Systems and the EU Skills Academies in Biotechnology and Resilient Agriculture. In addition, EIT Food Country Representatives help strengthen national innovation networks by facilitating collaboration, sharing information about relevant opportunities, and delivering activities that build innovation and entrepreneurship capacity within the agrifood sector.

This appointment is part of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS), one of EIT’s key measures to broaden participation in the EIT Community and address regional disparities in innovation capacity.